Operation: Make Zhongli Smile Forever

Part 14 - that time they almost kissed

Yet again, Hu Tao's loud knocks on the door woke the two men up in the early hours of the morning; five quick knocks was all it took for Zhongli to appear at the door, looking perfectly neat despite having just woken up. The same, however, could not be said for Childe, who clung behind Zhongli to hide his sorry state from the enthusiastic teen.

"Rise and shine lovebirds, I am in a slight predicament," she laughed as she skipped into the living room, throwing herself onto the sofa with a loud thump , "I need a house."

"Understood," Zhongli muttered, reaching for the wall to take down some sketches and paintings that hung framed it; he bought them neatly down onto the table.

"No no no, put your stuff back, I'm not throwing you out," she snickered, tapping her fingers together menacingly, "but I would like to move in here for the time being before I return to hopping between my friend's houses!" Zhongli sighed, half in relief and half in fear.

"Director Hu, with all due respect, can't you buy your own house?" Zhongli finally responded after a minute or so of contemplation; Childe still hung onto him from behind.

"No one wants to sell houses to kids! It's crazy!" Hu Tao sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Zhongli turned to Childe.

"Do you think she could stay in your old apartment, Childe?" Zhongli pleaded, visibly distressed by Hu Tao's presence; the Snezhnayan almost wanted to comply, ready to say yes to any of Zhongli's whims. He sighed.

"It's Fatui property, so unfortunately no. I think... I think she should just stay here. It's her house after all," he finally squeaked out, slightly intimidated by Zhongli's eyes staring almost into his soul.

"I'll be out of the way, I promise! You can do... whatever you two do together like usual! I only need a place to sleep!" Hu Tao pleaded, subtly wiggling her eyebrows midway through her sentence; Childe ducked behind Zhongli to hide his blush.

"Okay. You may stay here. Childe does make a good point, this is your house," Zhongli finally said after just a moment of thinking, "I will temporarily transform the upstairs office into a bedroom." Hu Tao grinned widely.

"Yay! Thanks old man! I'll be back here in the evening!" the teen giggled as she skipped out of the house without many more words; the door to the house slammed behind her.

"What just happened?" Childe laughed awkwardly as Zhongli turned around to face him.

"Well, Hu Tao, my boss, just ran into her own house that I am currently living in to-" Zhongli began before Childe slammed his hand to the Archon's lips, stopping him from talking; the Snezhnayan dropped his head on Zhongli's chest and started laughing.

"That was rhetorical, Zhongli" Childe wheezed through laughter, his warm breaths penetrating the stain of Zhongli's pyjamas and hitting his bare skin; Childe finally looked up to Zhongli's face after a few more deep breaths, their eyes meeting in a serene stare, "hi."

"Hello Childe," Zhongli responded, taken slightly off guard by the ginger man's sudden greeting; Childe slowly moved his hands up Zhongli's face before finally locking them behind his head, gently slumping forward. It took all his self-restraint and his remaining drops of pride not to move forward just a little more to let their lips meet, just gently, in a subtle kiss; his thoughts were engaged in a battle with each other. The love-starved half of his brain told him to suck it up and let them kiss, while the more rational half knew this is not what Zhongli would've wanted; the consultant only considered them friends after all.

The feeling of Zhongli's lips on his skin the night before came crashing back to him as his eyes flicked between the Archon's piercing eyes and his thin lips, wondering what was actually going on between the two of them; Childe remembered that his lips were perfectly soft as they ghosted over his collarbone, almost as if he was unsure of the action. He wondered if it was a romantic gesture at all, thinking back to the times he would gently kiss his younger sibling's cuts and scrapes to kiss the pain goodbye; perhaps Zhongli had been mimicking some of his own behaviour in the many stories he had told him about his family since their first talk in Mondstadt.